The Gaza Riviera

Instead of building for the future, the Palestinians chose the option of killing and dying for the past.

In the advertising business, clients pay us to dream. To dream means not to be too imbedded with reality, to be unshackled from any inconvenient fact that
might interfere with the dreaming process, to be, like they say in self-help seminars, appropriately unreasonable.

The price you pay for dreaming is to expose yourself to abuse and ridicule. In a tough world, you never want to be accused of being naïve. The expression, "Are you dreaming?" didn't develop by accident.

What you can gain by dreaming, though, is significant. Dreaming is only limited by your imagination, so it can lead you to wild and breakthrough ideas. At the very least, it can give you a new way of looking at old problems.

Why am I telling you all this? Because the other day, as my mind was numb from yet another report from the Gaza war zone, I saw something that made me go off on a wild dream. It started with the sight of two Israeli soldiers as they drove into Gaza in an armored personnel carrier, and as I watched the soldiers, I recalled how much Israelis love to go to the beach.

As if I was hallucinating, I then imagined the same two soldiers in their beach clothes, in a convertible roadster, with a surf board sticking out and the music blasting, and instead of going to war, they were going to meet their buddies for a day of partying on the beach.

They were going to the jetsetters' newest fun spot: the Gaza Riviera.

By now, my mind was losing control. Images started flooding in. I saw this fabulous strip of hotels and casinos right by a sparkling ocean. I imagined thousands of proud Palestinians working with smiles on their faces to serve the thousands of tourists from around the world who were coming to their little strip of ocean paradise.

Behind this paradise, I saw a bustling economy, where the highest quality produce was grown and exported; where entrepreneurs built software companies, banks and advertising agencies; where a university attracted students from around the world; where local culture and the arts thrived; and where you could take the Orient Express train to Beirut, Cairo and, yes, even Tel Aviv.

And then I woke up.

But as I rubbed my eyes and crashed back to the reality of Grad missiles and bombing raids, I realized what the really crazy part of my dream was: It could easily have happened. That's right, the Palestinians could have built their own Riviera.

Think back to that infamous summer of 2005, the year of the Gaza disengagement, when Israel finally said: OK, you don't want us here, we're leaving -- take it, it's all yours. Oh, and we'll even throw in our state-of-the-art farms and greenhouses, in case you want to continue growing some of the finest produce in the world.

Is there any doubt that had the Palestinians chosen the "Riviera" option, Israel would have welcomed it? That Israel would have responded to this show of good faith and optimism with corresponding gestures of cooperation and good will? That there would have been no need for "suffocating closures"? That, in fact, Israelis, known for their love of life and travel, would have been the first tourists to sample the delightful pleasures of this new Gaza?

Yet tragically, instead of choosing the Riviera option -- the option of building for the future — the Palestinians chose the option of killing and dying for the past.

They showed the world that they still hate the Jews more than they love the land.

Instead of seizing the moment and showing Israel and the world what they could do with the land that they love, they showed the world that they still hate the Jews more than they love the land.

Instead of using the hundreds of millions the world showered on them to build housing, infrastructure and industry, they built bomb factories and hundreds of tunnels to smuggle rockets they could fire into Israeli towns.

Instead of making laws that would protect the freedoms and rights of their people and encourage investment and innovation, they imposed Sharia laws with such punishments as severing hands, crucifixion and hanging.

Instead of teaching love of life to their children, as Mark Steyn has written, they "marinated them in a sick death cult in which martyrdom in the course of Jew-killing is the greatest goal to which a citizen can aspire."

Finally, instead of using their Jewish neighbors as allies and trading partners, they provoked them into a destructive war in the hope that the world would renew its hostility for Jews and the Zionist state would be further undermined.

And to an extent, it worked. The world is once again blaming Israel for the Palestinians' suffering and condemning it for the deaths of civilians used cowardly as human shields.

And once again, Israel is losing the war of images.

But while the images of destruction coming out of Gaza are indeed tragic, there is one missing image that also merits our sorrow. This is the image of what could have been -- what the Palestinians could have done with their precious land after Israel left Gaza three and a half years ago.

This is an image where the hero brands are Hilton and Sheraton, rather than Grads and Qassams; where captains of industry overshadow captains of terror gangs; where poets outshine bullies and guitars outshine guns; where the excitement of building for the future overcomes the aphrodisiac of permanent victimhood.

Yes, it's an image that requires one to dream in wild and unreasonable ways.

But an hour's drive up the coast from Gaza, you can see an image that was also once nothing but a dream, and that was built without any help from the United Nations or the international community.

It's an image of a thriving little Riviera called Tel Aviv, and for our Palestinian neighbors, it's a poignant and concrete reminder of what might have been.

Visitor Comments: 9

(9)
jt,
January 21, 2009 12:24 AM

gush katif was that dream

dreaming is great and necessary. you write beautifully about it.
but here's the catch: your gaza riviera dream was coming true. the precious jews of gush katif had it. beaches,organic farming, religious communities who welcomed all kind of people.
it was amazing, gush katif.
but,as you stated, the fakestinians aren't interested in development. they want to kill jews and destroy israel.
even if the mamzerim, G-d forbid, had all of the land, it would be a terrible repressive sharia state.
so the answer to your beautiful dream:
gaza to ISRAEL!!!!!
gush katif jews back to gaza!!!!
clear gaza of all the arabs (let them relocate to the arab country of their choice) and make it into a beautiful place.
it ain't gonna happen any other way, until moshiach comes.

(8)
Alexandra,
January 19, 2009 3:49 PM

It will happen

Strangely enough, this article left me with the sense of joyful anticipation. Because this is the way out. Where there is a problem, there is a solution. This is the solution. This is how, G-d willing, the peace will happen.

(7)
Osie Alfonso,
January 18, 2009 10:11 PM

a Great Dream

Gaza Riviera is a great dream and hopefully Palestinians would change their perspective in life and throw hatred in their hearts.

(6)
Anonymous,
January 18, 2009 8:15 PM

Spectators

Dear Mr. Suissa:
This is such a profoundly sad, distressing, yet very clear rendition
of what anti-semitic rage, and hatred
does to people.
Squandering treasures right in front of one, rather than give up the rage of hatred to destroy what shows up one's own lack of human evolution.
Sharia law, is particularly, barbaric, oppressive to women, and an affront to the creator, mutilating human bodies as "punishment" is simply - unspeakable, and sick.
That coastline, in Jewish hands, would have been a marvel. Hatred, particularly of the anti-semitic kind is virulent, systematic, volatile, and all-encompassing, reason holds no sway in this worldview.
However, one does reap what one sows, sooner or later.
Thank you for a wonderful picture by the sea, which you have described, I saw it so very clearly.

(5)
ruth housman,
January 18, 2009 6:17 PM

let's build a dream, together!

I have a dream. Maybe it's a good time to have a dream since tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day. In my dream Arabs and Israelis are neighbors not separated by fences but living side by side and sharing in every possible way. It's a dream of equality and has nothing to do with proving one way or another that they are better or worse than the Israelis. This dream has to do with the essential recognition of the uniqueness and the humanity of each other. It's a dream in which the children play together and respect the religious diversity that exists in a kind of brotherhood and sisterhood. We don't have the word hate anymore in the dictionary. It becomes archaic. A word that we would have to work very hard to define to our children because it stopped existing. It's a world in which we, strangely, don't make distinctions and Arabs don't serve Jews on the Riviera, we are doing service with each other, namely, mutual acts of grace, of kindness, of respect and civility and jobs are equally divided. There are then scholars, poets, and construction workers among us and none of them is better or worse than the other. It's a mutual sharing of talents and creativity for mutual goals. There is no hate in my world. We do work for a Riviera, meaning we irrigate areas that are arid and dry and work together to make them blossom and it becomes a Paradise for us all. What might have been is still what can be, and there is nothing served by saying, let me tell you what they could have done. I can say, let me tell you what we could have done. Yes, we have done so much for Israel. Yes. But I am saying there is something deep here that is divisive and I am talking about a profound merger that is the merger of union and maybe that's the impossible dreamer, in me. But yes, I have a dream.

(4)
Marc Milton-Talbot,
January 18, 2009 2:08 PM

Let Egypt deal with it

Why not gift Gaza to Egypt.The Gazans are in reality Trans Sinai Egyptians.Let Egypt receive the approbium for attempting to pacify them instead of Israel.After all,Egyptian forces on the southern Israel border can hardly pose any worse a threat to Israel than Hamas does already.It would be interesting how many UN condemnations,anti Egypt demos etc we have then,when Egypt is obliged to use force to control Hamas.Israel then can do a deal with the genuine Palestinians of the West Bank.That strip of inhabited desert to the South is useless to them too,nothing more than an insuperable barrier to peace with Israel.How does that Biblical saying go?"If thy eye offends thee,cut it out."

(3)
Jewish Mama,
January 18, 2009 12:28 PM

Print this article in a British Paper

I wish the rest of the world would see this. Thanks!

(2)
Kenny Komodo,
January 18, 2009 9:56 AM

It's so obvious

Of course. It's so obvious it's almost funny if it weren't so sad. The people of Gaza had an opportunity to make something positive out of the territory they were handed when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Beautiful beaches, luxury hotels, infrastructure, tourist trade, schools, hospitals, roads, a working economy, a future for their children all within their reach. Instead, they opted for war and so war is what they have got. It would be so easy to imagine Gaza as a "Gateway to the Middle East", or as "Your first stop in the historic and biblical tour of Egypt, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan". But no, no it seems that the people of Gaza never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Oh well, maybe they can get the UN to cry for them. I'm not.

(1)
Pierrette,
January 18, 2009 8:43 AM

None are so blind are those who will not see!.

This is so patently obvious, but the Arabs have an affinity for shooting themselves in the foot, then blaming their neighbors for their sufferings.
And unless the entire Judeo Chritian world wakes up to this fact, and does something to redress it, this will be like the plague of old,the new disease that will infect and wipe out millions of us, as it did in the middle ages...this time Jews and Christians alike. For as wise Benjamin Franklin once said: Unless we stick together, we shall hang separatly!"

I live in rural Montana where the Cholov Yisrael milk is difficult to obtain and very expensive. So I drink regular milk. What is your view on this?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Jewish law requires that there be rabbinic supervision during the milking process to ensure that the milk comes from a kosher animal. In the United States, many people rely on the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls as sufficiently stringent to fulfill the rabbinic requirement for supervision.

Most of the major Kashrut organizations in the United States rely on this as well. You will therefore find many kosher products in America certified with a 'D' next to the kosher symbol. Such products – unless otherwise specified on the label – are not Cholov Yisrael and are assumed kosher based on the DOA's guarantee.

There are many, however, do not rely on this, and will eat only dairy products that are designated as Cholov Yisrael (literally, "Jewish milk"). This is particularly true in large Jewish communities, where Cholov Yisrael is widely available.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that under limited conditions, such as an institution which consumes a lot of milk and Cholov Yisrael is generally unavailable or especially expensive, American milk is acceptable, as the government supervision is adequate to prevent non-kosher ingredients from being added.

It should be added that the above only applies to milk itself, which is marketed as pure cow's milk. All other dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, may contain non-kosher ingredients and always require kosher certification. In addition, Rabbi Feinstein's ruling applies only in the United States, where government regulations are considered reliable. In other parts of the world, including Europe, Cholov Yisrael is a requirement.

There are additional esoteric reasons for being stringent regarding Cholov Yisrael, and because of this it is generally advisable to consume only Cholov Yisroel dairy foods.

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness.

If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a specific enthusiastic individual, running, taking a walk in a quiet area, looking at pictures of family, listening to music, or reading inspiring words.

While our attitude is a major factor in sadness, lack of positive external situations and events play an important role in how we feel.

[If a criminal has been executed by hanging] his body may not remain suspended overnight ... because it is an insult to God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Rashi explains that since man was created in the image of God, anything that disparages man is disparaging God as well.

Chilul Hashem, bringing disgrace to the Divine Name, is one of the greatest sins in the Torah. The opposite of chilul Hashem is kiddush Hashem, sanctifying the Divine Name. While this topic has several dimensions to it, there is a living kiddush Hashem which occurs when a Jew behaves in a manner that merits the respect and admiration of other people, who thereby respect the Torah of Israel.

What is chilul Hashem? One Talmudic author stated, "It is when I buy meat from the butcher and delay paying him" (Yoma 86a). To cause someone to say that a Torah scholar is anything less than scrupulous in meeting his obligations is to cause people to lose respect for the Torah.

Suppose someone offers us a business deal of questionable legality. Is the personal gain worth the possible dishonor that we bring not only upon ourselves, but on our nation? If our personal reputation is ours to handle in whatever way we please, shouldn't we handle the reputation of our nation and the God we represent with maximum care?

Jews have given so much, even their lives, for kiddush Hashem. Can we not forego a few dollars to avoid chilul Hashem?

Today I shall...

be scrupulous in all my transactions and relationships to avoid the possibility of bringing dishonor to my God and people.

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